So Much to See!!

A few days out of town & I felt like a kid in a candy store when we visited our house yesterday.

The extra stone has been taken away & trash has been picked up -the yards looks like.....yards!

The brick for the fireplace was delivered & is waiting for the mason.

The outside trim work & infamous water tables are finished.

The glass block was installed above the tub in the master bath.

The garage doors were installed.

The cement floor in the game room has been stained, scored & polished. It was wet yesterday so we could only peak at it. They are still working on it today so it may be a few days before we can get in there to walk on it. At first 'peak' it looks amazing!

The wood floors were being installed yesterday. Should be complete today.

One of the most exciting things we heard yesterday is that cabinets should arrive today. The trim man will be on site Friday to 'set up shop'.

Glass block window (left)

Stained cement floor (below)

Another week......a Little Closer!

October 16, 2008

Back of the house

Living room

Guest room with window seat

I feel like we've turned a corner this week. Probably just in my mind but maybe not. The details on the house seem to be coming together.
The water table is complete, the stone is complete, the walls have been textured. We met with the man who will do the treatment for the cement floor. He will begin working on that tomorrow.
On Saturday the glass block will be installed in the master bathroom.
The wood floors will be started either tomorrow or early next week (we both thought we heard something different).

Out of town for a few days, hope to be able to report on big progress when we return.

A Three Ring Circus

This week we had workers everywhere, including a 'stilt walker'....our very own circus!

The siding continued & the dry wall was put up.

Work on the stone took place throughout the week and is almost complete. It was a little disconcerting yesterday to see workers taking stone OFF of the columns. Not sure what that is about. Due to the language barrier, we did not try to ask. We suspect the water table (a cast stone trim that is placed below the siding & above the stone to deflect water) was wider than anticipated when delivered.

Garage wall

The back patio

Coming soon, a driveway, septic tank and wood floors!

Sticks and Stones

Front of the house - looking like a house!

The south side of the house with stone!

Only Tuesday & too much progress to wait until the end of the week before sharing again.

We met with the trim man today to discuss all of his great trim ideas and the interior doors.

We have dry wall going up today. The siding is continuing to progress.

The stone is being mortared into place and just looks awesome.

Had to share pictures!

Going Green.......

We are trying to build a house that is more energy efficient and GREEN than our last house.

In addition to two tank less water heaters & the well we are putting in the back yard for watering, we are using Icynene foam rather than conventional insulation. http://www.icynene.com/ . It was sprayed last week.

The goal is to envelope the walls & seal it from outside air, heat and cold. Sounds a little scary because it is so well sealed. There is also an air handler installed for fresh air recirculation.

In theory we should have a cooler house requires smaller air conditioning units in the Texas heat. We should have a fairly dust free environment and hopefully fewer critters that can invade from the outside.

The foam was the big story last week.

Other progress includes the completion of the patio & porch soffits. The siding has continued to progress, the chimney has been 'dressed'. We have approved the cabinet designs & chosen glass block for above the master bath tub.

The 40 tons of stone was delivered & depending on the weather installation should begin this week. The stone is a mixture of 2/3 creek rock and 1/3 moss rock. Supposedly the moss on the moss rock will come to life when (or if, since this is Texas) it rains. Drywall will also begin this week.

In other news - a 'for sale' sign went up yesterday in the front yard of the house we are renting!

Mr. Cabinet and Other Updates

Not to diminish the men in my life (Daddy, Bob, Sean, Brian.…) but, ‘Mr. Cabinet’ may just be the man of my dreams. Or at least he was for an hour or two earlier this week.
We spent a couple of hours walking the house with Mr. Cabinet this week. He is one of the ‘Mr.’s’ (Mr. Carpet, Mr. Trim, Mr. Paint, etc.) we have really looked forward to meeting. He did not disappoint. His ideas, combined with our ideas & research have given us some nice designs. The preliminary sketches came back today & look good.

Other goings on this week...
The siding is going up and we are very happy with our choice. The framers tell us it should be done by Monday.

The house has been pre insulated and foam will follow sometime next week. To prepare for insulation, some of the walls that will be foamed have drywall. It isn’t much but it does give us an idea of what a few rooms will look like.


The soffits are progressing on patios & porches - they look great.






When we arrived today there were stacks of drywall throughout the house – WOO HOO!!!!




Gas lines have been run inside the house
The electrician and plumbers have finished their work for now.
A sample wall of stone was put together for us to see the stone & grout choices.
The city came today to inspect! Minor changes needed before they reinspect.


Moving right along!!

Window Installation & Other Updates

The windows we thought we would really like when we picked them are in & look great!

Our house building adventures this week included a trip to the middle of nowhere stone yard to verify our choice. We still like our original choice of creek rock. The final choice is made up of 2/3 creek rock & 1/3 moss rock. It will be installed 3' up from the bottom of the house around the majority of the house and on the columns. The moss rock was added yesterday. We are told it will 'grow'. Should be interesting to see!

Since so many of our choices were made months ago, it is gratifying to see that we are still happy with them. Hope the same holds true with fans, lights & tile when we get there.

The rough plumbing & electric are in their final stages. The wiring for sound & security was done yesterday. Framers have returned to finish framing & start the siding. Duct work was done this week and the HVAC was started. The foam vendor was on site to measure for the foam. Some clean up was taking place today prior to an inspection later next week. We meet with 'Mr. Cabinet' early next week. Can't wait!